Business News by Yahoo Finance

Unless next week's payrolls report is an outlier, investors should expect a continuation of the directionless market that has kept the S&P 500 trading in place for most of the year. Should July post strong job gains, it would point to an economy strong enough for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates for the first time in almost a decade.

Verizon Communications Inc and the unions representing its wireline unit employees on the U.S. East Coast said work will go on and talks continue after their current contract expired. Since June, the unions have been in talks with Verizon over the company's plans to cut costs by controlling healthcare and pension-related benefits over a three-year period. Last week, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers that represent over 37,000 wireline employees said they had voted to go on strike, if needed, after their contract expired on Aug. 1 at midnight.

Iran plans to buy as many as 90 planes per year from Boeing (BA.N) and Airbus (AIR.PA) to revamp its antiquated fleet once Western sanctions are lifted, its state news agency IRNA quoted a senior aviation official as saying on Sunday. "Iran will buy a total of 80-90 planes per year from the two aviation giants in the first phase of renovating its air fleet," said Mohammad Khodakarami, the caretaker director of Iran?s Civil Aviation Organization, according to IRNA. Last month's nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers has raised the prospect of banking and trade sanctions on Iran being lifted, perhaps around the end of this year, which would mean a chance to renew a fleet of commercial aircraft whose average age of 23 years is almost twice the international average.